[MUD-Dev] Alright... IF your gonan do DESIESE...

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

On Fri, 30 May 1997 21:24:10 PST8PDT, Jeff Kesselman
<jeffk at tenetwork.com> wrote:

>Granted, still, you have to ask (or at least i do) WHY the assholes exist
>almost entirely within the pwoergamer set...

Because the powergamer's goals are clear. They're simple, easy to see,
easy to define, and easy to understand. While some people powergame
because they've looked at both sides of the fence and like it better
over here, some people will powergame because... well, they haven't
quite figured out that the fence has two sides. Bluntly, the utter moron
can't quite figure out exactly what roleplaying is ("She looked through
the book, but it didn't seem to have any pictures or conversations; 'And
what is the sense of a book,' thought Alice, 'without pictures or
conversations?'..."), but powergaming is easy. In fact, it's the easiest
thing in the world. "Uhhhh... I can kick your ass." Even Beavis and
Butthead understand that.

>I say ALOMOST enterily because I have actually seen one INCRDIBLY annoying
>anti-powergamer (she wasn't a roleplayer 'caus e she couldn't rp her way
>otu of a paper bag).  As soon as the game in question aded a "no-pvp" flag
>what did she do? Get in all the power gamers afes with a "you can't hit me
>naa naa" act.  Sheesh.

How was this person an anti-powergamer? I mean, going from 'I can kick
your ass' you 'You can't kick my ass' is a pretty small distinction.
What *was* her style of play?

Note that being a really BAD roleplayer doesn't change the fact you're a
roleplayer. There are bad and obnoxious roleplayers out there too. Some
of them even turn out to be assholes.

>The big thing i think is that power gamers TEND to be alot less mature then
>the serious roleplayers, thus you see all these other behaviors wiuthin
>their numbers.

No, I disagree; the less mature gravitate to powergaming because they
aren't ready to get their heads around the idea of roleplay just yet,
but this does NOT mean by any stretch of the imagination that a mature
and sophisticated player can't be a powergamer. My father used to be a
computer security specialist in the Air Force, and what does he do now?
He's the assistant manager at a Merchant's tire and auto store. Not
because it's the best he can do -- but because he likes it there. The
people he meets are real, he doesn't have to work till 4 AM on a
project, and there's no office politics. There are some very good
reasons for his choice, and there can likewise be good reasons for
someone to forego the RP world for powergaming.

Hey, some people just don't like it, you know? It's sort of like
extolling the virtues of broccoli. Broccoli isn't really better than
cauliflower or vice versa, but there are people who like and dislike
both and there's even an odd cross between them.

-+[caliban at darklock.com]+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
 I am here to grind your eyes harder into the miasmic bile of life; to 
 show you the truth and the beauty in the whisper of steel on silk and 
 the crimson scent of blood as it rises to meet the caress of a blade. 
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+[http://www.darklock.com/]+-